World-renowned storyteller and poet Gcina Mhlophe has converted her book Nozincwadi- The Mother of Books into a video with sign language interpreter to accommodate deaf people.
Mhlophe who has been running a literacy project called Unozincwadi since 2001, said after launching the video book at Bessie Head Library in Pietermaritzburg on Literacy Day, September 8, it will be available on streaming platforms like YouTube.
The actor and playwright said since she started the literacy initiative which builds libraries and donates books at schools she never wanted to exclude children with special needs. With sign language becoming the official 12th language, Mhlophe said it was long overdue.
“The launch of the project was a success. I had kids from a special school who enjoyed the moment. Teachers from special school were grateful for being catered for. I was also happy to listen to people reading my book in a language I could not understand.”
“Whenever I donate books I always think about kids in special schools and they are very important to me. The book will be available on our YouTube channel for downloads . Deaf people are sidelined in many activities because in various events you hardly find a sign language interpreter.”
Mhlophe said her book Unozincwadi-Mother of Books which was translated into all South African languages is inspired by a story of a village woman who could not read or write but always collected books and pile them at her house.
"The way she loved education, she would even assist to buy school books for the kids in her area. In return these kids would come to her to read stories for her. She ended up joining an adult learning centre where she finally learned to read and write. Many people in the village followed suit.”
She said the hard copy is available at books stores and the braille version is available at SA Library for the Blind. Mhlophe points out that there was no interest yet from booksellers for the braille version. She said the project would have not been a success without the assistance from Video Entertainment who filmed the whole project.
Mhlophe makes her book usable for deaf kids
Nozincwadi: The Mother of Books now has video with sign language
Image: Supplied.
World-renowned storyteller and poet Gcina Mhlophe has converted her book Nozincwadi- The Mother of Books into a video with sign language interpreter to accommodate deaf people.
Mhlophe who has been running a literacy project called Unozincwadi since 2001, said after launching the video book at Bessie Head Library in Pietermaritzburg on Literacy Day, September 8, it will be available on streaming platforms like YouTube.
The actor and playwright said since she started the literacy initiative which builds libraries and donates books at schools she never wanted to exclude children with special needs. With sign language becoming the official 12th language, Mhlophe said it was long overdue.
“The launch of the project was a success. I had kids from a special school who enjoyed the moment. Teachers from special school were grateful for being catered for. I was also happy to listen to people reading my book in a language I could not understand.”
“Whenever I donate books I always think about kids in special schools and they are very important to me. The book will be available on our YouTube channel for downloads . Deaf people are sidelined in many activities because in various events you hardly find a sign language interpreter.”
Mhlophe said her book Unozincwadi-Mother of Books which was translated into all South African languages is inspired by a story of a village woman who could not read or write but always collected books and pile them at her house.
"The way she loved education, she would even assist to buy school books for the kids in her area. In return these kids would come to her to read stories for her. She ended up joining an adult learning centre where she finally learned to read and write. Many people in the village followed suit.”
She said the hard copy is available at books stores and the braille version is available at SA Library for the Blind. Mhlophe points out that there was no interest yet from booksellers for the braille version. She said the project would have not been a success without the assistance from Video Entertainment who filmed the whole project.
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